In John Quincy Adams’s Executive Order in 1826, he lauded some of the most famous of the
Founding Fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who were influential in
drafting the Declaration of Independence (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=66658). The
death of these two important leaders occurred on the same day, which was fifty years
after the Declaration of Independence declared the American colonies separate
from their mother country, Great Britain. Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
were influential with their use of rhetoric in shaping ideas and forming
opinions relating to the importance of freedom and its legacy. Eleven years
after his Executive Order, in the Newburyport Address of 1837 (http://archive.org/details/orationdelivered00adam),
John Quincy Adams, John Adams’s son, is using convincing rhetoric to express the
importance of remembering the truths espoused by the Declaration of
Independence. He is once again stating the importance of the ideals of the
founding of the United States.
In both of these documents, John Quincy Adams is stressing the importance of remembering either significant leaders who helped shape the direction of the country or the documents and reasons that impelled the nation to pursue liberty and freedom. In the Executive Order, John Quincy Adams expresses that in the deaths of these two Founding Fathers, “A coincidence of circumstances so wonderful gives confidence to the belief that the patriotic efforts of these illustrious men were Heaven directed, and furnishes a new seal to the hope that the prosperity of these States is under the special protection of a kind Providence.” In addition, in his Newburyport Address of 1837, Adams states that the Declaration “laid the corner stone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.” Consequently, John Quincy Adams in both of these speeches is reminding the people to remember the legacy of freedom they have.
Moreover, the idea of remembering the past and the significant ideas and events of the past is also a Biblical principle. The Bible often refers to the importance of remembering. God often told the prophets of the Old Testament to remind the Israelites to remember the things He had done in the past. Deuteronomy 6:12 expresses this theme of the importance of remembering the Lord and His deliverance.
These freedoms enumerated in both of John Quincy Adams’s texts rely on Biblical principles. Moreover, as Thomas Kidd makes clear in God of Liberty (2010), John Witherspoon emphasizes personal morality as necessary to ensure that the republic would endure. Kidd relates what Witherspoon expounded, “God would preserve the liberty only of the morally pure. Conversely, ‘nothing is more certain than that of a general profligacy and corruption of manners make a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch, even the best constitution will be ineffectual, and slavery must ensue’” (p. 105-106). However, Kidd also states, “John Adams and James Madison (one of Witherspoon’s students), placed more confidence in the beneficial effects of good government, but Witherspoon avowed that no republic could survive without robust morality. Such morality could only arise out of authentic Christian faith” (p. 106). Therefore, it is essential for Americans to reflect on the importance of personal character in preserving our legacy of freedoms, which many men fought and died to protect because they believed in the intrinsic principles of liberty.
As Christians today, it would behoove us to practice what John Quincy Adams espoused in these two documents in remembering the causes and sacrifices of liberty and freedom and the Founders who instilled principles of freedom in our government. In addition, it is important to remember what Witherspoon said about the importance of morality in ensuring that the freedoms we have will endure.
Works Cited:
http://archive.org/details/orationdelivered00adam
Kidd, Thomas S. God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution.
New York: Basic Books, 2010.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=66658
In both of these documents, John Quincy Adams is stressing the importance of remembering either significant leaders who helped shape the direction of the country or the documents and reasons that impelled the nation to pursue liberty and freedom. In the Executive Order, John Quincy Adams expresses that in the deaths of these two Founding Fathers, “A coincidence of circumstances so wonderful gives confidence to the belief that the patriotic efforts of these illustrious men were Heaven directed, and furnishes a new seal to the hope that the prosperity of these States is under the special protection of a kind Providence.” In addition, in his Newburyport Address of 1837, Adams states that the Declaration “laid the corner stone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.” Consequently, John Quincy Adams in both of these speeches is reminding the people to remember the legacy of freedom they have.
Moreover, the idea of remembering the past and the significant ideas and events of the past is also a Biblical principle. The Bible often refers to the importance of remembering. God often told the prophets of the Old Testament to remind the Israelites to remember the things He had done in the past. Deuteronomy 6:12 expresses this theme of the importance of remembering the Lord and His deliverance.
These freedoms enumerated in both of John Quincy Adams’s texts rely on Biblical principles. Moreover, as Thomas Kidd makes clear in God of Liberty (2010), John Witherspoon emphasizes personal morality as necessary to ensure that the republic would endure. Kidd relates what Witherspoon expounded, “God would preserve the liberty only of the morally pure. Conversely, ‘nothing is more certain than that of a general profligacy and corruption of manners make a people ripe for destruction. A good form of government may hold the rotten materials together for some time, but beyond a certain pitch, even the best constitution will be ineffectual, and slavery must ensue’” (p. 105-106). However, Kidd also states, “John Adams and James Madison (one of Witherspoon’s students), placed more confidence in the beneficial effects of good government, but Witherspoon avowed that no republic could survive without robust morality. Such morality could only arise out of authentic Christian faith” (p. 106). Therefore, it is essential for Americans to reflect on the importance of personal character in preserving our legacy of freedoms, which many men fought and died to protect because they believed in the intrinsic principles of liberty.
As Christians today, it would behoove us to practice what John Quincy Adams espoused in these two documents in remembering the causes and sacrifices of liberty and freedom and the Founders who instilled principles of freedom in our government. In addition, it is important to remember what Witherspoon said about the importance of morality in ensuring that the freedoms we have will endure.
Works Cited:
http://archive.org/details/orationdelivered00adam
Kidd, Thomas S. God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution.
New York: Basic Books, 2010.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=66658
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